Ah gotcha. Yeah when I remove this on engine parts I take a rubber mallet and gently tap the parts sideways to break the initial seal. I'm not sure how one would accomplish this on a stove. I was thinking getting a plastic scraper under the gasket and chiseling it with a small hammer to get it started. I've never really tried something like that before. I've never really had it just peel off very well. It has to be scraped in my experience. Which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm not sure what kind of specific results you're looking for. FWIW Usually I spend about 15 minutes cleaning off old gasket before I put on new gasket.
RTV setup time
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Ah gotcha. Yeah when I remove this on engine parts I take a rubber mallet and gently tap the parts sideways to break the initial seal. I'm not sure how one would accomplish this on a stove. I was thinking getting a plastic scraper under the gasket and chiseling it with a small hammer to get it started. I've never really tried something like that before. I've never really had it just peel off very well. It has to be scraped in my experience. Which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm not sure what kind of specific results you're looking for. FWIW Usually I spend about 15 minutes cleaning off old gasket before I put on new gasket.
I've made full gaskets using Permatex red for engine repairs ( not for gas/oil parts).
Could we do that for stoves ? Why not ?
Could we do that for stoves ? Why not ?
How often do you redo your gaskets? My door gasket has been on my stove 5 years now (not all at my house) and they are still fine. I dont see that it is a big deal at all to change them every 5 years or so. But then again I do gaskets all the time so it is not a big deal to me.
All this running around posting and stihl no firm answer. I'm sticking with Rutland....for now even though it gets on my nose.
Earth to BKVP and other manufacturer reps out there---Hello: what do your stoves use for gaskets ?
Now for the engineers among us, and stove designers: how about just plain doing away with loose, replaceable gaskets altogether ? How about
what's used to seal pressure vessels ( like subs, engines, rockets ), or car doors and windows ? Is there a permanent gasket material like the 'rubber' compounds that will take high heat ?
For all the effort we put in to re-do gaskets, I'd pay the extra $$$$ to have a permanent sealed opening(s).
BTW, RTV is tough stuff used primarily on engine components. Read the tube, don't get it on the nose.
There is no real reason that a stove (oven) type gasket could not be designed to work on a wood-stove. Just have it clip into the steel frame part that holds in the glass, for example. Those oven gaskets just about last forever.
I am into Kamado BBQ & the manufacturers have a similar issue. One of the cheap steel Kamadoes uses an oven type gasket & they last well. The ceramic kamadoes have historically used felt or nomex, which just doesn't last under high heat -- like a pizza cook, consequently the gasket gets burned up & replaced often. The manufacturers have been "too lazy" to come up with a better solution, other than the super ultra expensive brand (uses a silicone gasket in a protected groove).
Finally, Kamado Joe, even a Chinese import, has come up with an oven type bonded to the ceramic somehow -- they are considering making it a lifetime warranty item. In time, maybe the wood stove manufacturers will get smart & make a gasket improvement.
We heat 100% with 2 wood stoves going 24/7. So, the BTUs are needed without any thermostat for a central furnace set at 65 or 60 F. There are many homes here in northern New England that do heat with all wood either wood stoves or boilers like Tarm. The 2 wood racks are loaded most days when below 32, and ash pans emptied each morning. So the doors to load and ash pan doors are used daily. At singles and below zero and with gales the stoves get filled more often than a usual 2X-3X/day.
With both cast stoves over 8 years old and used hard ( without over fires ) gaskets need to be checked at least 3x/winter using the accepted dollar bill (new) test. I buy various diameter gasket 'rope' from Woodmans in N.H. ( good service and price) with Rutland gasket cement. The ash pan doors are the critical ones for fire control.
With the openings used that much, and the stoves' used for all our heating, the gaskets do wear. Rarely I have to use smaller rope to fill in where there's a slight warping in the cast....happens.
After awhile gaskets are not big deal, just a pain. The RTV red may be an option. Hope that this is not T.M.I.
All the black RTV I have looked so far at is rated at 550ºF intermittent. Buck uses RTV 4500 High Strength Sealant, ASTM C920 TYPE S.NS CLASS 25. It's rated to 350ºF, intermittent to 400F. Checking out Silbond's website I see their RTV 6500 is rated to 500F, 650F intermittent.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0114AERBM/?tag=hearthamazon-20
I ask because I'm tracking our stove door temp. Today it got up to 432ºF with a pretty normal fire, stove top 615F.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0114AERBM/?tag=hearthamazon-20
I ask because I'm tracking our stove door temp. Today it got up to 432ºF with a pretty normal fire, stove top 615F.
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I burn 24/7 as well as do many of our customers and for most gaskets last 4 to 5 years at least. Like I said my stove is 5 years old and shows no sighn of any deterioration of the gasket and I have tightened the latch twice but the gasket still seals well and passes the test fine. What stoves are you running btw? The only ones that I work on that go through gaskets that much are vermot castings stoves. And yes If I had one of them I would be fed up with the gaskets to.
Peel/scrape/cut the heavy silicone off, Drill & wire wheel works real good for remaining silicone remnants. The wipe the surface for final cleaning with rubbing alcohol or brake cleaner spray & clean rags.
Agreed. But most wood burners here and elsewhere burn with central heating, thermostats usually set to 60-65 F, while 'burning' 24/7.
It's the number of times that the stoves or boiler are used, and how many BTUs need to be wood heated to bring the rooms up to comfort....daily.
So, you're right about the 4-5 year life of gaskets if the stoves are used lightly. For us and others up here with NO central heating by choice, those stoves and boilers are used often and hard. Think about the delta range in temps from out to in: if it's 15-20 F then less use. If the delta is > 25-30 F then those wood stoves get much more frequent use and therefore those expendable gaskets need more attention. Simple. Sometimes the mornings here can be in the 50's if we have outdoor temps in the singles or below and/or high winds. Not a big deal to get the stoves up and running with live coals.
Now the question is from this: how many of you do not have any central heating with thermostats and/or zoned heating, and heat only with stand alone wood stoves or wood boilers/furnaces like Tarm ? It is a lifestyle choice, not better or worse.
Whether or not you have a backup heat source does not determine how hard your stove is run. Infact it has nothing to do with it at all. My stove is burning nonstop the entire heating season other than a couple days I go away. As are the stoves of many of my customers and most of us get 5 years or so out of gaskets. My father has no other heat source and he gets about the same. What is happening to your gaskets that they need replacing so often?
We heat 100% with wood. I haven't energized the electric wall heaters, my backup, for years. More importantly though is that my heating season is 9 months long. Also important is that the BK guys only have to reload once or twice a day.
Finally the design of the door and gasket is important here. The BK and Begreens t6 have knife edge gaskets which go to hell pretty fast since it has high psi in one place. The NC30 door gasket seals against a flat face of the stove and I don't see replacing that one for 10 years! I also believe that the non-cats can tolerate a leaky door gasket since they are already full of holes providing combustion air all the time.
I only got three years out of the BK door gasket. It's a knife edge with 7/8 high density gasket. It started to fail the dollar bill test. Why only three years? Maybe it's just that I cared to check and the folks that are getting 5 years have waited two years too long. BKs are particularly sensitive to door leaks and I want to operate this stove as designed.
Yeah their door design while it does seal very tight is hard on gaskets but still is it a big deal to change it every 3 years?
3 yrs is not a big deal, though I went 5 yrs for my first gasket on the T6. The quality of the gasket material will affect the replacement frequency. The gasket that just failed was a 'graph-o-glass' gasket bought over amazon. After a season of use it was not in great shape. Contrast this to the OEM gasket I removed at 5 yrs which was still in good physical condition. Though it was no longer sealing that tightly I could have gone another year with it. The one I just took out fell apart as I removed it. Stick with the OEM gasket for the best life.
PS: The gasket I just bought from the dealer is not a PE OEM part. I needed it quickly and they were the only dealer close by that had 5/16" high density and were a PE dealer. This new gasket is a "bronzed, high-density" material. It is nicely made and definitely stiffer than the graph-o-glas. I suspect it is a Meeco product but don't know for sure. We'll see how it does. I'm going to order the proper gasket from Tom just to have a spare on hand.
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Yes absolutely there are very different qualities of gasket.
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I just changed it once so far and BK was light on the RTV. I was not light on the RTV so cleaning it up might not be much fun. I would be fine with a three year interval to feel confident that the seal is tight.
NO, re-read usage and frequency of opening and BTUs from your furnace thermostat set at 60-65 F. Look up delta.
Hey, use your truck more often, things break down. It's common sense.
Why would having a backup heat source mean that you opened the door to your stove less if you are not using the backup source? Yes for some it would and for others they don't even have that backup on. Obviously yes if you open your door less it will wear less but your reasoning does not make sense. And you still have not answered what stove you have?
Settle down there, DUMF. I've used more wood to heat this old farm house, and by your logic more gasket wear, than 99+ percent of your frugal New Englanders living in their miniature houses. You have no special warrant on high usage, by the numbers I see folks posting here, year after year.
Settled down Ash. Settled.
No need for the sarcasm and silly attacks here, this is about stoves and gaskets. High use means wear, nothing more. Don't read into nothing.
What's this about "miniature" ? Is this about "mine is bigger" ? Hubris .
Most like you, have central furnaces with wood as backup AND/OR primary heat. Who cares ? Think about insulating that 10K ft² stone Mcmansion before installing another wood stove along with your clan of 18 stoves.
Where is the fact check on "99%" and "frugal" ? Now now, less emotion Ash.
Back to gaskets and cement. We always use the high density gaskets. Usually Rutland black cement, but I'm open to new ideas such as Permatex Red and permanent heat resistant gaskets . The Permatex is actually used to make gaskets; could it be used on our wood stoves ?
So facts: ashes emptied and new loads each morning for the stoves. Depending on the time spent indoors and meetings at the house, and the wind and outdoor temperatures, the stoves could be re-loaded 2x-3x/day . This is the
that is the need for heating comfort. In normal northern winter weather here the two wood racks are filled with 5-8 armfuls of firewood each morning; species dependent. Keeps the body in shape before the wood harvest, blowdowns, skiing, and winter climbs.BTW: it is easier to not give out personal info such as brands. This ain't a selfie.
lol... always good, DUMF. I only have a problem with one thing you said, there: "Mc". 
Back to the question on permanent gaskets, such as you'd find on the oven in your kitchen. I'd suspect it's much less likely to get damaged by errant handling of a split (ever swing around with a split in your hand and catch the door?), than that on a wood stove. Also, I do not believe my kitchen oven needs to be nearly as air tight as my wood stove loading door, nor do I think it's opened and closed as frequently as most wood stove doors.
Back to the question on permanent gaskets, such as you'd find on the oven in your kitchen. I'd suspect it's much less likely to get damaged by errant handling of a split (ever swing around with a split in your hand and catch the door?), than that on a wood stove. Also, I do not believe my kitchen oven needs to be nearly as air tight as my wood stove loading door, nor do I think it's opened and closed as frequently as most wood stove doors.
You mean normal size houses for the average American family.
We can't all afford to, or want to maintain, Windsor Castle ....Though its certainly a beautiful place to visit
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